On 20 May 2016, Enforcement Authority (“Authority”) of General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People's Republic of China (AQSIQ) organised Defective Products Administration Center to find that safety hazards were present in children’s products including laser pens, baby mats, garments of babies and children, children’s stationery, baby walkers through special market research, National Product Injury Surveillance System and special surveillance on internet opinions. Pursuant to provisions of The Administrative Measures on the Recall of Defective Products, the Authority released consumer alerts for four children’s products to attract wide attention among consumers.

1) Laser pens. The hazards of laser pens, mainly results from heat effect, may possibly cause permanent damage to eyes, burn the skin for its high-capacity laser or even cause fire hazard due to ignition of matches, cigarettes and garments.

2) Baby mats. Some baby mats contain components which may pose small parts of toys once detached from the products, while it may cause suffocation once ingested by children.
3) Garments of babies and children. The common hazards of such products: their accessory items including zippers and buttons, which poses suffocation hazard once ingested or inhaled by children; the drawstrings, which poses suffocation hazard as they may be tangled or clipped by protrusions or gaps on furniture, elevators, transport tools or sliders.
4) Children’s stationery. The Authority found that some products of unique styles or of play value enjoyed great popularity. However, the design of such products may not comply with relevant national standards, while it may cause suffocation once ingested by children.
5) Baby walkers. The unreasonable design of some baby walkers offered for sale on the market may pose hazard of burn, injury or fall.

BACL Suggestion

BACL advises consumers to purchase children’s products from regular stores and should carefully read the instructions and labeling prior to use. Producers should also learn about the above defective products and voluntarily recall such products in case of the above problems. Meanwhile, improvement should be made in follow-up product design to enhance product safety.